


Karaoke Night

by adreamofadandelioninthespring



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Cheap Drinks and cocktail buckets, F/M, Florence Italy, Karaoke, europe trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 20:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15893118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adreamofadandelioninthespring/pseuds/adreamofadandelioninthespring
Summary: On holidays in Italy, Katniss never dreamt of her karaoke song being taken during karaoke night.Light, fluffy fic requested for Everlark birthday fic exchange with the prompt - “That asshole stole my song at karaoke night” with an everlark twist.





	Karaoke Night

\---

“So we’ll meet at the bus at 6 to head off for dinner." Jo, our trip leader, reminds us. "I'll head in and check us all in and meet you where Thom parks the bus.” She gathers her things and jumps off the bus just as Thom our driver pulls up outside the hostel camping site and lets her out.

Thom easily reverses the bus down throughout the hostel camping site, and we stay on the bus as we wait for Jo. The sun was warm out, and she warned us it could take a while to check in, so we sit and wait while Thom makes fast work of unloading the 35 bags from the bus before he gets to work on cleaning the outside and we stay in the aircon waiting for Jo.

"Oh, it's cobblestone." Madge curses as she steps back onto the bus and sits beside me. She literally brought her whole bedroom with her, and she's dragging the suitcase around and cursing every single staircase she sees or Cobblestone Street she has to wheel her bag over.

“I hope we’re not too far away.” She states as we climb out of the bus with Jo’s arrival. She's a packhorse with her backpack on her back, and her camera bag slung over her shoulders.

“It’s flat I think.” I tell her, craning my neck to see what the street is like.

“Thank fuck.”

“I told you that you need to get in with the guys and get them to carry your bag.” I whisper to her. “Use those blue eyes of yours.”

“But I have a boyfriend.”

"Who's an arsehole and dropped out of the trip." I remind her. He didn't give a reason, but he didn't want to go anymore. I'm pretty sure he's fooling around with some 18-year-old girl. “You don’t have to sleep with them, just thank them with a drink or something else.”

“But that gives the wrong impression.”

"You set the boundaries." I tell her. "Besides, I think Gale boy is keen on you. He's always checking you out and gets nervous talking to you.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah right.”

“I’d maybe hang back and see what he does.” I look over my shoulder to see him standing just beside the bus in the shade with a few others “Make sure you grunt and moan a lot and curse the ground as you drag your bag along. He’ll swoop in like a knight in shining armour.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to sleep with him.” She thinks any favour she accepts means she has to sleep with the guy who offers. That’s what her arsehole boyfriend makes her think. She needs rid of him immediately, and I hope 40 days of travelling without him will make her realise that. Will make her realise how beautiful, kind and caring she is and that she deserves the world.

I was glad he dropped out of the trip to give us time to spend together, reminiscing and reconnecting from our high school days. If he were here, it'd be a drag, and she wouldn't be allowed to have any fun or do her own thing.

“OK, I’ll hand you out your keys. We’ll meet here at 6 pm to head for dinner. I'll collect the money from those who haven't paid me yet also." Jo says.

She hands the keys out as she reads down the list and everyone starts to move off slowly.

"312, we've got Katniss, Madge, Jacinta and Delly." Jo reads aloud. Delly is up front and grabs the room keys for us, and we head off in the direction of our cabin.

The ground is a little uneven, and our cabin is on the far side of the site. I'm glad for my luggage choice and throw my pack over my shoulders.

“You right, Madge?” I ask her as we start to follow Delly to our cabin.

 "Madge, do you want a hand with your suitcase?" Gale asks her, and I smile to myself.

"Oh, you don't have to." She tells him.

"No, it's fine." He smiles at her, and they walk down the street together, Gale managing his own pack, daypack and then Madge’s oversized suitcase over the uneven ground. "We're right next to each other."

I don't wait up for them and continue on my way, listening to the small talk. I can tell Gale likes Madge and I know she is attracted to him but with her relationship status hanging over her she's closed off and cautious at what she says.

“He likes you.” I claim as soon as the door closes.

“Shush.” She says. “He can probably hear you.”

“Oh, stop being a baby.” I tell her, dumping my things on the floor beside the bunk. “Just, don’t be a stick in the mud.” I sigh. “Please just keep having a good time and don’t ever question anything you do. This is your holiday, your energy, your time and your experience. You only get out what you put in and moping around and thinking what Cato is going to think if you do something isn’t worth it.”

“We’ve been together for four years.”

“I know.” I smile at her, wiping the tears from her eyes. “But sometimes change is as good as a holiday. You’re not the same person I graduated high school with, and I can see how much he is eating away at your soul. My aunt wasted 18 years with a deadbeat guy. I don't want you doing the same thing." She nods her head. "Let's have the time of our lives tonight. I hear there's karaoke." I grin.

We work like ants to get ready for our evening. It’s the first big evening we’ve had out in a week, and everyone is keen to get dressed up and make themselves look a little more human and let loose tonight. There's a tag team for the shower, we crowd around the mirror and help each other as we decide on outfits and do our hair.

“What time do we have?” Jacinta asks.

“5:55.” I tell her.

“Shit.” She cusses, reaching for her mascara.

“You look fine.” Delly tells her as she finishes putting her shoes on.

“I look like a mess.”

“You look spectacular.” Madge reiterates. “Don’t stress.” She tells her, handing her a room key. “I’m heading to the bus if anyone else is ready.”

I follow her and quickly check in with Prim, replying to her message.

“So, are you going to get up and sing at karaoke?” She asks me.

I laugh. "You know me."

“You’re amazing, Katniss and after Barcelona, everyone loved you. They’re hanging out for you to sing again.”

“I was pretty drunk in Barcelona.” I laugh.

"You were, but you were great." She smiles “I’ll come up with you if that makes you feel better.”

“I’d love for you to sing with me.” I hug her.

My first job at uni was at a Japanese restaurant that was also popular on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night doubling as a karaoke bar. A lot of the uni students would stumble by on a Tuesday night for cheap Tuesday. They'd get a cheap feed, drinks and would usually stick around for karaoke and nothing was more rewarding than watching drunken uni students sing off key and drunkenly sway together as they sang along to the lyrics.

I have fond memories from my days working as a waitress there, the owners were brilliant, the staff were great to work for, and the customers were always fantastic. I got to the stage of being shift supervisor eventually and in charge of close from Tuesday to Thursday night and the staff would usually stick around after the customers had left to have our own sing-a-long and drinks as we cleaned and packed up.

There I established my go-to karaoke playlist.

We had already done karaoke in Barcelona, and I knew it was time for another song in my top 5 as I couldn’t double up again. I was skipping a few going to song number 5.

Drinks are flowing by the time we settle into dinner. Our group takes up the room, and we are happy with our 12 euro jug cocktails and meals.

“Katniss, are you getting up to sing?” One of the girls yells down the table.

"Hell yeah, she is." Madge claims, slamming a shot down in front of me. "Aren't you Kat?" She says, holding her glass up to toast with mine.

I down the shot, shaking my head at the burn of the vodka. “Hell yeah. You all better stay.”

“We aren’t going anywhere.”

We're pretty close to tipsy by the time we eat our dinner and head into the next room where there is a small group gathered already waiting in anticipation for the karaoke night.

“There’ll probably be another Tribute group and a Career group too.” Jo tells us as she sits down at the table beside me. “So it’s going to be a little crazy.”

“You getting up to sing, Jo?” Thresh asks her.

“I don’t ever turn down an opportunity to sing. Why don’t we go up together?” She suggests.

“Deal.” Thresh tells her, clinking his glass.

“So what are we singing?” Madge asks me.

“Latch.” I tell her. “The Disclosure version.”

She nods in approval and orders another jug for us to drink as the room starts to fill. There's music being played for now, Jo and Thresh getting up to be the first to sing.

We’re on our feet when Thresh and Jo take the stage and the familiar sound of ‘A Thousand Miles’ starts, and we go crazy for them, singing along with them and cheering for them when they finish.

“Let’s go line up.” Madge suggests as the line is starting to grow. “Bring your drink.”

We wait in line, singing and dancing along. We wince when those tone-deaf get up on and sing out of time.

“Man I don’t know if they’re wasted or just terrible karaoke singers.” Madge says to me.

"I'd say a bit of both." I wince at the note being missed. "No, they are just terrible."

“This bring back memories from the karaoke bar?”

I nod, feeling a little sad that I haven't been there for two years now, having since moved on to my career. "I miss it now and then. They were my little family. I miss especially our closing shifts."

“I bet you do.” She smiles. “Oh well, make them proud again tonight.”

"I will."

A blond guy four ahead of us takes the stage by himself. Madge and I chat, showing each other memes on our phone to pass the silence in between the singers.

“Gale is looking at you.” I tell her as casually as I can.

“He is not.”

"In five seconds do a casual sweep of our table, and you'll see." I tell her. "5,4,3,2 and 1."

Madge casually looks up from her phone and scans the room, her eyes quickly going over our group and our table where Gale is focused on her.

“He likes you.” I tell her for the thousandth time.

“He doesn’t.”

“Madge, he does. I wished you give him the time of day cause he’s a nice guy.”

“He doesn’t even live near me.”

“You’re already jumping to….” The familiar tune of Latch begins breaking me from my sentence. “That arsehole stole my karaoke song.” I swing around to the stage to see the culprit. “Fucking arsehole. I was going to sing that song.” I whine, trying to make him out through the stage lights. "For fuck sakes."

“Katniss, it’s fine.” Madge tells me. “We can sing your next song.”

"I don't want to. I wanted to sing this song." I tell her as Blondie sings it. He doesn't butcher it and is on time. "That arsehole stole my song."

“It’s just a song.”

I know I'm overreacting, but this was one of my songs. I've had my heart set on singing this since we left Barcelona last week.

“Come on, we’ll sing Dancing Queen or something.”

 _‘Now I got you in my space_ __  
I won’t let go of you  
Got you shackled in my embrace  
I’m latching on to you’

I look up at the stage again and death glare the song stealer. He has no idea who I am but he’ll be the arsehole who stole my karaoke song.

_“Have a nice evening.” I say to the last customers who walk out the door a little tipsy. Thursday karaoke has picked up again with the warmer weather and we’re encountering a lot of work groups coming for dinner and staying to sing and have a laugh._

_I've been the shift supervisor for just over six months now, and I love it. I know this place like the back of my hand, I have the confidence to fix any issue, to direct staff and deal with the few complaints we may have. The team repays me with their enthusiasm and attention to detail, and we always have a good night. I think most of them are excited for our close as we have our staff karaoke party._

_I lock the door after them and watch my team move around like ants cleaning up the remaining tables, sweeping and mopping the floors and having the back of house tidied. It's just the wait staff, barman and dishwasher remaining, the cooks left when we finished our dinner service at 9._

_“What’s your poison of choice tonight?” Peeta asks me from behind the bar._

_“Something sweet I think.”_

_“I don’t know how you drink so much sweet stuff.” He comments, turning his nose up with a big smile. “I can’t do it.”_

_“We all didn’t grow up in a bakery.” I tease._

_“I suppose that’s true.” He laughs. “Do you trust me to make you something?”_

_“Always. You’ve never let me down.” I smile. “I’m just going to take the money to the office.”_

_“Do you want to ask the rest of them what they’re having?”_

_“Sure thing.”_

_I lock the money in the safe, happy its balanced for the night and lock up the office before checking in on the rest of the staff. The waiter and waitress are helping the dishwasher with the remaining glasses and jugs and also starting on the floors._

_I get their orders, bringing them to Peeta who has finished my cocktail and presents it to me on the bar._

_“What is it?”_

_“Try it.”_

_I take a sip, trying to guess the flavours of this concoction. He liked trying them out on me before he added them to the specials menu the next week._

_“Strawberry something?”_

_“Strawberry mojito.”_

_“This is nice.” I compliment him. “I could have a few of these.”_

_“I can drive you home if you want to have a few.” He laughs as he opens the beers and the can of Coke._

_“Oh no, we have our exam tomorrow, don’t want to be foggy for that.”_

_“We’ll be fine.” He reminds me. “You’ve had a great tutor and haven’t fallen behind once.”_

_“Well, tomorrow might be the day.”_

_“Then that means I’ve failed you as a student.”_

_"Well, if you actually tutored me in statistics and not in your impressive movie collection."_

_“Hey, I didn’t hear any complaints from you.”_

_I stick my tongue out at him, and he laughs._

_I got him the job when we returned last year for the semester. He was in my class, one I had to do to pick up the units for my degree in Environmental Science. So I enrolled in stats and Peeta has been helping me throughout the semester as he was finishing his degree in business management that he was cruising through. We’d partnered together on assignments and become fast friends._

_They were in need of a bartender at work and I asked him to come and meet the owner that afternoon, and he started working that evening. He's boosted business, and we're busy every night of the week, especially with the uni students who eat for cheap on a Tuesday night._

_The three of them come out from the back, and I take the broom from Brody. "You're up Ben." I tell him, pushing him towards the karaoke machine._

_He puts up a small fight but doesn’t complain as he searches for his song and starts singing his go-to of Michael Jackson._

_It’s our little routine. We sing. One of us sweeps the front, and the other follows behind with the mop. We dance as we close, we sing, and we laugh._

_I sweep the floor, close to the bar singing along to Billie Jean and find myself in Peeta’s arms as we dance, failing the moonwalk and any other dance move we try._

_‘Billie Jean is not my lover_ _  
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one” Peeta sings as he moonwalks around me._

_“I think you wished you were Michael Jackson.” I laugh as a sip my drink. He nods, does a spin and crotch grab as he finishes the chorus. “Don’t go too hard.”_

_Ben finishes, leaving for the night and Amy and Jax take the microphones and start their usual duet._

_“They are so into each other.” I comment as I lean against the bar and Peeta sips his bar._

_“Oh, young love.”_

_“They’re a year younger than us.” I laugh._

_"Still, they're cute. It's like they are 14 years old." He says. "They blush and go shy around each other. They’ll get together eventually. I mean, they’re singing High school musical songs together. That’s true love.”_

_“Stop it. I wish I had someone to sing high school musical with.” I admit._

_“Well, we can sing high school musical if you want.”_

_I turn and smile at him and see him smiling slightly._

_“It’s fine. I’ve got my karaoke playlist.”_

_“So what will it be tonight? Torn, Dancing Queen, Believe, Since you’ve been gone or will you bring out some classic Queen?”_

_“I’ve got something new.”_

_“You do?”_

_"Yep, I think this will go on my list."_

_“You're branching out. I love it." He smirks as he drinks his beer._

_“Thought you would.” I smile._

_The two lovebirds finish their song and Peeta pushes me forward. “Time for you to sing, songbird.”_

_I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling too much like an idiot and try to compose myself before I have to face him. It's a song he got me into recently on our many study and tutoring sessions. It has always happened to be on in the car if he drives me to work and he's made me obsessed. When the music plays I see the smile on his face, and I try not to watch him for too long, or I'll know I'll go red._

_“Now I got you in my space_ __  
I won’t let go of you  
Got you shackled in my embrace  
I’m latching on to you”

_I end with massive applause like usual and thank them all. Amy and Jax leave as it's nearing 1 am, knowing it's time to head on out as well._

_“So, is Latch going to become one of your go to’s now?” He asks me as he shoves his hands into his coat pockets and leads me to his car._

_“I think so.” I chuckle. “You think it’s a good karaoke song?”_

_"Yeah, I do." He smiles. "I really do. I mean, anything you sing you nail, so you don't have to worry about what you choose." He tells me as Ariana Grande comes on in the car._

_“Thanks.” I’m thankful it’s dark in the car so he can’t see my reddened cheeks. “I think that’s going to be second on my list.”_

_“I’ve never met someone with who actually has a karaoke list.” He laughs. “They usually have one song and just stick with it. You have a top 5."_

_I laugh cause it sounds a little ridiculous. “You forgot my top 5 duet list as well.”_

_“You have a top 5 duet list? Why haven’t I heard this?”_

_"Because I only duet when I've found the best duet partner, and I haven't found them just yet."_

_"Well, I hope for you're sake you do." He smiles. "Or you humour me one night and allow me to join you. If you allow it?"_

_“I’ll allow it.”_

"Can't believe the arsehole stole my song." I mutter as he finishes the song to a wild applause from his group.

Blondie bows, lapping up the attention and jumping down the stairs to be surrounded by his group who hand him his beer.

“Don’t worry about him.” Madge tells me. “Do you want another drink?”

“Sure, thanks.”

She heads off to buy us two drinks while we wait in line, knowing it'll be a while before we can go up. I'm sulking big time over my stolen song and don't know if I want to back out because of it. I'm acting childish, and I know our group will be disappointed if I back down now.

“Let’s sing some Ariana Grande.” I suggest to Madge when she comes back with my drink. I've gotten over my tantrum slightly, and I don't want to put a downer on the evening. Especially Madge's when I told her to lighten up and live a little. I want her enjoying herself tonight, and if I'm not enjoying myself, she'll tap out and go back to the hostel early. “One last time?”

“Hell yeah.” She states as we clink our glasses together and drink.

It's our time to shine, and we step up on stage, grabbing our mics and putting in our request. Our group cheers us on, and I smile over at Madge as we get ready to sing.

I feel the music, enjoying the moment and the fact I'm standing up in some Florence bar singing in front of close to a hundred strangers.

Majority of the crowd dance and sing with each other, swaying to the beat and letting the alcohol do the talking.

A body emerges from the crowd. It's blondie the song stealer who makes it his mission to see who is singing this tune. A familiar song. A song that brings up memories of what seems like a lifetime ago.

 _“So one last time_ __  
I need to be the one who takes you home  
One more time  
I promise after that, I'll let you go”

I see who the song stealer is and I’m shocked. It all makes sense now.

 _“Baby I don't care if you got her in your heart_  
All I really care is you wake up in my arms  
One last time  
I need to be the one who takes you home”

I stuff up the lyrics, lose my timing and am thankful for Madge who keeps up the pace. I match her, keep the pace and try to not think of the moment we last saw each other. That Saturday night in the car park behind the restaurant. That moment after graduation. The end of our uni chapter and the start of the rest of our lives.

We were going different ways, new careers and experiences to live. He was going back to his hometown to work in his parents' bakery while he painted and decorated the cakes. I had a local government job. We were living on opposite ends of the state. Separated by distance and long stretches of highway. We broke our promise to each other and we both knew our goodbye in the car park was goodbye.

I can feel the knot of anticipation in my stomach. I can feel his hands on my body. The feel of his lips on my own. My heartbeat pounding inside my chest. I can still feel the wetness of his tears that I wiped away.

I can’t abandon ship just yet, despite the emotions taking over my body. I do my best to pull my composure together and finish the song without doing something stupid like cry.

I turn to Madge for the ending and sing it, focusing on her.

_“One last time_ _  
I need to be the one who takes you home”_

“What the hell?” Madge asks me as she takes my hand and we head down the stairs of the stage.

"I don't know, but I need a bathroom."

“Come on.”

She sneaks me off to the ladies room away from him.

“Have I seen a ghost?” I ask her as I sit on the toilet seat.

“No.” Madge tells me.

"He stole my karaoke song." I say to Madge. She doesn't know of the significance of my karaoke list or how it was Peeta that introduced me to this song. "I mean, it's not my song, but he stole it from me. He knew."

"I don't think he knew you were here, Kat. I think it was just a coincidence.” She says to me through the stall. “Did you know he was travelling?”

"I did, but I didn't think he was here in Italy the same time as me. I thought he was doing his own thing and bumming around."

"He's a Career." Madge laughs.

 "I can't believe he went travelling with the Careers when he could have been a tribute." I laugh. "Bloody Careers." It was a running joke among our group, especially when we ran into the Careers. There was a slight rivalry between the two travelling groups, and the Careers had a reputation compared to the tribute travellers.

I wash my hands, check my hair and makeup and inhale a deep breath.

“Time to face the music.” I exhale as Madge stands beside me.

“Let’s go.”

I hesitate for a moment but follow Madge out of the ladies towards the party. I scan the room for Peeta but am pulled around the corner and against the wall.

Peeta stands in front of me, just staring at me unsure if he’s seen a ghost or not.

“Katniss, you alright?” Madge asks me.

"I'm fine. I'll catch you later." I tell her, and she walks off to join our group. A few who watch with curious eyes at the blond stranger that's pushed me against a wall and standing inches away from my body.

 “I wasn’t sure if it was you up there.” He finally gets out. “I thought someone must have spiked my drink or I was hallucinating.” He breathes out. “Am I dreaming?”

“No, you’re not.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.” He smiles, biting his lip to stop the smile from growing too wide. He's like a schoolboy. A nervous schoolboy. The same nervous schoolboy that stood before me almost two years ago and poured out his heart to me. But I try not to think of that and instead focus on getting up him. “You arsehole, you stole my karaoke song.” I say, hitting his chest.

"In my defence, I didn't think you'd be here."

“You knew that was one of my songs.”

“And it’s been my song since we left each other.” He admits shyly to me with a tear escaping his eye.

I feel my heartbeat pick up as I stand in front of him. I can feel his pain, and despite the façade of him lapping up the attention, it hurts him to sing this song.

“How drunk are you?” I ask him.

“I picked the Disclosure version for a reason.” He tells me. “I’d be a ball of tears if I sang the acoustic version.”

“You’re still an arsehole for singing that song.”

“I’m sorry.” He smiles and chuckles slightly. “How can I make it up to you?”

“I think I should be asking you that question.”

He shakes his head. “Life happened, it was neither of our faults. I mean, I should have tried harder. I was scared. Scared of it not working and having a broken heart.”

“But isn’t having a broken heart count for something? Count for having a go?” I put to him.

“I’ve missed you so much, Katniss.” He tells me. “Come on, I owe you a drink.”

He buys us both a drink, and we stand off to the side where it’s a little quieter than at the tables in front of the stage.

Flashbacks from our last moments together fill my mind. The rain pouring. The bass of music coming from some club nearby. Roaming hands. Discarded clothes. Bare bodies. The leather of the backseat. Ragged breathing. Moans of pleasure.

His hand rests on my hip, his thumb drawing circles, reminiscent of that night. I can’t hold back the feelings for too much longer. I want him in my arms. Want him to cover my body with his own. Feel his lips on my own lips.

“Katniss, I should have tried harder. But you’ve been worth the wait. I made a pact with myself that when I returned home from this trip that I was going to throw all my cards on the table and see if you wanted to try dating. I’d have found a way to make it work. I’d relocate if it meant being with you.” He tells me. “If you’d allow it?”

 “You still stole my karaoke song.” I tell him with a smirk.

"Well, I didn't know…"

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

I lean up on my tiptoes, tired of playing games and initiate what I want. I've never been one to make the first move, but he is frustrating with nervous talking. I place my lips on his firmly, shutting him up.

“Oh.” He says swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Just kiss me.” I demand. “There’s time for talking later.”

He gets the idea and kisses me back, pushing me against the wall with his body pressing tightly against mine, as we get lost in the kiss. The feel of each other after two years.

“I’ve missed you so much.” I murmur against his lips.

“Me too.” He murmurs back as his lips trail across my cheek and my jaw.

I can hear our names being cheered from the tables in between karaoke songs and Peeta holds his middle finger up to them, which gets a round of applause and more cheering. I bury my face into his neck, and he just holds me in his arms.

“I do have one problem.” I whisper.

“And what is that?”

“You’re a Career.” I laugh as I appear from his neck.

“Guilty.” He admits, holding his hands up in the air. “Sorry, I was just following my mate.”

“I’ll let you off for now.” I warn him.

“I’m glad.” He smiles and leans his forehead against mine. “Am I still the arsehole who stole your karaoke song?”

“Yes.”

“Can I make it up to you with some gelato? I happen to know a place with the best gelato. It’s Nigella Lawson approved.”

“Well then, it must be good.” I smile. “Let me just tell my friend.”

“So, it went well with the arsehole who stole your karaoke song?” Madge laughs as I embrace her.

“Well, so far. He’s taking me for gelato.” I tell her. “Will you be right?”

"Yeah, I think everyone will be out for a while yet." She smiles. "And Gale promised to take me home when I was ready."

“Look after her.” I tell Gale.

“I will.”

“Promise me. She’s my best friend.”

“I pinkie promise.”

I smile at him and then at Madge. “I’ll message you when I’m heading home.”

She embraces me one last time. “Go, enjoy your gelato date with blondie the arsehole who stole your karaoke song.”

I smirk at her, grab my bag and say goodbye to my trip leader before I find Peeta and take his hand in mine.

* * *

 

_Three years later_

“I think I knew from that moment they left the bar together that I should start preparing my speech. I mean, they were making out against a wall and then left for gelato. I mean, what type of guy makes out with a girl for ten minutes then takes her out for gelato? Especially a 23-year-old male?” She laughs as she speaks to the room. “I knew that when she messaged me on her way back to the hostel at 6 am that it went well and that she didn't hate the arsehole who stole her karaoke song. She advises me there was no funny business that night. It is still up for discussion. Especially since she didn't show up at the hostel until that morning.” She laughs. “But we are here today, celebrating the marriage of them both so it must have gone very well." She laughs and turns to us, wiping the tears from her cheek. "I'm going to ruin my beautiful makeup." She laughs. I see the sparkle of the diamond on her ring finger and smile, cuddling up to Peeta even more. "That night, both of our lives changed. I mean not changed, the next chapter of our lives began. We thought those six weeks away was our life-changing experience, but it was those moments within our trip that started the next stage of our lives. Thank you for inviting me on that trip. It's a trip I'll cherish right until we're old and grey and surrounded by our grandchildren who ask how we met their grandfathers.” She smiles through the tears. “To my best friend, Katniss, may you’re life be filled with many great moments to come with the fellow who stole your karaoke song.” She laughs. “Cheers.”

I embrace Madge, kissing her cheek and thanking her.

"I now call Katniss and Peeta up who have a few words they'd like to say." Finnick calls for us.

I was stepping out of my comfort zone and speaking in front of everyone gathered here today. The room was made up with the close friends from our trips three years ago who we've stayed in contact with and many we've used to crash on their couches as we've done our travelling the last couple of years.

"Wow, this is fucking nerve-racking," I admit to everyone in the audience. "Sorry kids, Aunty Katniss didn't say a naughty word."

“She’s just a little drunk.” Peeta tells them all with a cheeky grin. His nieces and nephews sit front and centre with their mothers and laugh at me. I'm not drunk. Just my nervousness has gotten the better of me.

“Aunt Katniss.” Patrick exclaims, rolling his eyes. “Not again.”

This breaks the tension, and I’m silently thanking Peeta’s 9-year old nephew for helping us. "Thanks Pat." I wink at him. "Peeta and I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight. We're fortunate to have so many people in our lives, and we're very grateful for you all making the effort and travelling far and wide to be here with us today. We both made some wonderful friends three years ago and its proof with you all being here today. Despite half of you being Careers." I laugh, taking a dig at Peeta.

“What Katniss means is that she’s just jealous she wasn’t a career.”

"Oh no, Tribute for life. Am I right?" I jab, getting a rise from my trip mates. "It's just a shame you weren't a tribute because we could have been a tribute love story.”

“Or a Career love story.” He shrugs. “Jokes and travel companies aside, we’re proof that both companies can get along and find love after putting our differences aside.” He smiles at me. “As most of you know, we met in Uni taking a stats class. Katniss who is hopeless with numbers begged me to be her tutor, and that began our story. Nothing too romantic just the typical boy meets girl at uni love story.” He laughs. "She got me a job at the Japanese restaurant where we usually ended our shifts with a round of karaoke. She had never sung in front of me, in those few months of studying together. The first time she did sing, I knew I was a goner. I swear the birds fell silent and that’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

I blush slightly and quickly find where I’m up to on the speech. He has gone off the speech. "Where am I up too?"

“Here.” He points.

“Yes. Right. We parted ways when uni finished. Our careers and lives were going in different directions. But three years ago, in a Florence restaurant, this guy was on my radar as the arsehole that stole my karaoke song, and I was going to hunt him during the night and maybe throw a beer over him. That was until he came out of the crowd and I realised who exactly it was. It wasn’t some arsehole; it was Peeta, Peeta who rated every song choice, who cheered for me every time I sang. The boy who introduced me to that very song so knew I couldn't be mad at him for too long. And I wasn't. It was like no time or distance had passed, and we were those two 21-year-olds working late at the Japanese restaurant who would laugh, sing and dance with each other." I say smiling.

“So in honour of our fabulous relationship and because we knew this wouldn’t be a party without some karaoke. Katniss and I will be singing the first song we sang together. This song came about hitting shuffle on the machine, and this is the song it came up with." He laughs. "So please enjoy a compilation of our relationship in film reel while we embarrassingly sing our duet song.”

His brother makes fast work of setting it all up with him ready to hit play on the instrumental version of our duet song and playing the video slideshow he made for us.

“You ready?” He asks me, lowering the microphone away from his mouth and squeezing my hand.

I nod with a wide smile. “Let’s do this.”

“ _Would you dance if I asked you to dance?_ __  
Or would you run and never look back?  
Would you cry if you saw me crying?  
And would you save my soul tonight?”

We sing to our guests who cheer for us. There's a little bit of a medley within the song of our karaoke hits from Dancing Queen, to Disney classics, 90's rock, some recent pop songs, Elvis, 80's pop and then more of Hero before it fades into Under Pressure for a few beats before it turns more upbeat into the 90's tune of Ice Ice Baby.

 _“Yo, Katniss, let’s kick it.”_ Peeta sings pointing at me. He smiles widely because he knows we have pulled off the announcement.

 _“Our first baby._  
We’re announcing our first baby  
Our first baby  
We’re announcing our first baby’ We sing, Peeta caressing my stomach as our recent ultrasound picture appears at the end of the slideshow with the caption

_‘Our karaoke duet is turning into a trio in early October'_

We watch the reaction of our friends and family and Peeta whispers in my ear, with his arm around quickly before our family and friends surround us.

"Bet you're glad I'm the arsehole who stole your karaoke song?"

"Every day." I smile up at him and kiss the corner of his mouth just as I'm pulled into an embrace by my family.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, it's been a while. I apologise. My life has been a little bit crazy in the last couple of months but now I'm home from my holiday and settling back into normal everyday life, I'm slowly easing myself back into my writing and this was one of the first things I've written since being home. It's gotten the juices flowing and the next updates of my fics started so don't fret. They'll be update I hope sooner rather than later.
> 
> In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this little fic. It was slightly reminiscent of the Italy leg of the trip that I just took from the karaoke, to the gelato and whole lot of cocktail buckets. I'll continue on writing and working through that post holiday slump I've nose dived straight into.


End file.
